Posts Tagged ‘college expenses’

Paying for College – A Requirement Under the Child Support Standards Act?

Monday, February 16th, 2009

Prior to the enactment of the Child Support Standards Act, contained in Family Court Act §413 and Domestic Relations Law §240, the courts had held that the provision of a college education to one’s minor children was not a necessary expense for which a parent could be obligated in the absence of a voluntary agreement or special circumstances. Haessly v. Haessly, 203 A.D.2d 700 (3d Dept. 1994). However, recent case law recognized that special circumstances, which involve the educational background of the parents, the child’s academic ability, and the parents’ financial ability to provide the necessary funds, continue to be relevant factors in applying the standard set forth by the Legislature in the Child Support Standards Act for determining whether an award for college expenses is appropriate.

It is clear that the Court has the power to order a parent to pay his child’s educational costs even though the parties’ settlement agreement is silent on that issue. Manocchio v. Manocchio, 16 A.D.3d 1126 (4th Dept. 2005); McDonald v. McDonald, 262 A.D.2d 1028 (4th Dept. 1999). As aptly noted in Mrowka v. Mrowka, 260 A.D.2d 613, 613 (2d Dept. 1999), “Although the parties’ stipulation of settlement was silent as to the costs of college, this does not necessarily mean that an agreement was reached pursuant to which college costs would not constitute a component of the parties’ obligation to pay child support.”

According to the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, Fruchter v. Fruchter, 288 A.D.2d 942, 943 (4th Dept. 2001), the Child Support Standards Act authorizes an award of educational expenses where warranted by the best interests of the children and as justice requires, upon a showing of “special circumstances”. Relevant factors include the educational background of the parents, the child’s scholastic ability, and the parents’ ability to provide the necessary funds. Id.

In Manocchio v. Manocchio, 16 A.D.3d 1126 (4th Dept. 2005), the Appellate Division, the Fourth Department, rejected the father’s contention that Family Court improperly denied his objection to an order requiring him to pay half of his daughter’s educational expenses. The Fourth Department held that the support magistrate properly determined that the petitioner-mother was unable to meet the child’s educational needs on the income and support that she was receiving, and that the respondent-father had the ability to pay support. Id.

Therefore, even if the parties have a separation agreement that is silent on the issue of paying for college, they may be directed to pay for their child’s college education by the court.

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Posted in Domestic Relations Law, Family Court, Family Law, New York Law, Settlement Agreements, Supreme Court, best interests of the child, child support, child support enforcement, college expenses, court orders, divorce, drafting, modification | No Comments »

Opt-Out Agreements and the Scope of the Child Support Standards Act

Monday, December 29th, 2008

If parties choose to deviate from the provisions of the Child Support Standards Act with respect to the child support paid, such deviation will be upheld by the court provided the parties complied with such formalities as including calculations of the presumptive child support amount and the reasons for deviating from the CSSA. However, the parties frequently choose not only to deviate from the child support amount calculations, and add-ons such as child care and health care costs, but also to make recalculations of child support an annual or semi-annual event, or to include other items not included within the scope of the CSSA.

In Fasano v. Fasano, 43 A.D.3d 988 (2nd Dept. 2007), the parties included an annual cost-of-living-adjustment (“COLA”), with respect to the child support paid by the non-custodial parent. The Second Department found that the parties to the agreement did not opt out of the CSSA standards with respect to basic child support, but that the COLA provision included in the agreement represented potential future deviations from the CSSA basic child support obligation. The agreement did not state the reasons for including the COLA provisions. The Appellate Division held that the COLA provision represented an opt-out from the CSSA and was directly related to the child support. Since the reasons for including the COLA provision were not included in the agreement, the opt-out was invalid. The court vacated the COLA provision, while the basic child support provision of the agreement was not vacated.

However, not all provisions dealing with financial support of the children are considered to be within the scope of the CSSA. In Cimons v. Cimons, 53 A.D.3d 125 (2nd Dept. 2008), the Second Department held that the obligation to provide for the future college expenses of the children was not part of the parties’ basic child support obligation and therefore was not subject to the CSSA requirement that any deviation from statutorily-mandated child support obligations must be recited and explained in a stipulation of settlement. While the parties’ agreement regarding basic child support violated the CSSA by failing to recite and explain the reasons for the deviation, the provision concerning future college expenses was enforceable. The court held that unlike the basic obligation to provide child support, payment for a child’s college education is not mandatory. Absent a voluntary agreement, a parent might be required to provide support for his or her child’s attendance at college, but the determination of that obligation is dependent upon the exercise of the court’s discretion in accordance with Domestic Relations Law §240(1- b)(c)(7). The court further noted that the determination as to which additional aspects, if any, of the parties’ stipulation must be vacated along with the basic child support provision depends on the circumstances of the particular case and the nature of the obligations addressed in the other provisions of a stipulation. Some provisions may be so directly connected or intertwined with the basic child support obligation that they necessarily must be recalculated along with the basic support obligation. It found that unlike child care expenses and unreimbursed health care expenses, education expenses were not directly connected to the basic child support calculation and did not require the appropriate opt-out language.

The above cases represent the dangers involved any time the parties attempt to either opt-out from the CSSA or attempt to include items outside of the scope of the CSSA in their agreement. Any such agreement must be carefully drafted to make sure that it is not subsequently challenged and invalidated.

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Posted in Child Support Standards Act, Family Law, New York Law, Settlement Agreements, Stipulations, Supreme Court, child support, child support enforcement, college expenses, court orders, divorce, drafting, modification, procedure | No Comments »

Child Support and Credit for College Expenses

Sunday, November 9th, 2008

I am often asked whether there should be a reduction in child support in a situation where the child is residing away from home at college and the parent paying child support is also contributing to the cost of college expenses. Since the child support is generally paid to provide shelter and food for the child, if a parent is paying for a room and board at college, the payor parent should only be paying for shelter and food at a single location. The case law holds that, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, any such reduction or credit is discretionary with the court.

In Pistilli v Pistilli, 53 A.D.3d 1138 (4 Dept. 2008) plaintiff moved to modify the judgment by “[d]istributing the actual and anticipated college education costs associated with the parties’ children,” specifically the parties’ daughter, between the parties. Pursuant to an oral stipulation of the parties that was incorporated but not merged into the judgment of divorce, the parties “agreed to contribute to [their children's college expenses] as they are then financially able.” The Appellate Division held that the court erred in failing to consider defendant’s maintenance obligation in calculating the percentage of defendant’s contribution to the daughter’s college expenses. After subtracting from defendant’s income the amount of taxable maintenance paid to plaintiff as indicated on the parties’ respective 2005 tax returns, which were used by the court in determining the parties’ respective incomes, it concluded that defendant’s percentage of the combined parental income was 64% rather than 80%, and thus defendant’s pro rata share of the daughter’s college expenses was reduced from 80% to 64%. The Appellate Division rejected defendant’s contention that the court erred in determining that he was entitled to a credit against his child support obligation only in the amount of his pro rata share of the daughter’s college meal plan, holding that a credit against child support for college expenses is not mandatory but depends upon the facts and circumstances in the particular case, taking into account the needs of the custodial parent to maintain a household and provide certain necessaries. Because plaintiff had to maintain a household for the daughter during the daughter’s school breaks and weekend visits, it could not be said that defendant was entitled to a credit for the daughter’s rooming expenses. Nevertheless, inasmuch as the Appellate Division reduced defendant’s pro rata share of the daughter’s college expenses from 80% to 64%, defendant’s child support credit based on the college meal plan had to reflect that reduction and it modified the order accordingly.

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Posted in Child Support Standards Act, Domestic Relations Law, Family Court, Family Law, New York Law, Supreme Court, child support, college expenses, court orders, divorce | No Comments »